Startup marketing manager (profile) focused on helping small businesses across America survive and thrive through the power of online marketing. Expert in online search, display, retargeting, mobile, and social media.

Friday, April 30, 2010

A few weeks back, I took a day to write about a small mental/verbal change that could change your day.

The next time you feel to urge to turn someone down or not do something, stop yourself from using the word can't. Substitute the word won't.

Ouch. Still stings, doesn't it? We *can* do a great many things; things we even think aren't possible in the here and now. Can we stretch ourselves to fit in 30-40 minutes of exercise? Can we set aside our deep dislike for a given household chore for 15 minutes, turn off our internal stonewalling, and just get it done?

Sure we can.

How does it feel to take real responsibility, be truthful, and say I WILL NOT:

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Solid. Only way to describe the end result of my three-day Shakeology Cleanse (see below/scroll down) and monster short-term change in eating.

The focus was on some fruit, two amazing nutrient-packed shakes, and a big salad featuring baby spinach, some pine nuts, tomatoes, 2 tsp. of EVOO/balsamic vinegar, and some fish or chicken... wasn't sure I could make it. Did I get hungry? Here and there. The worst of it was last evening, waiting for dinner -- but I made it. Quietly. Hungrily.

Went from 201 to 194 this morning, verifying the downsize.

Here's the real result -- I feel as if the cleanse took a few layers of fat off my entire body. My chest, arms, shoulders, legs, (and yes, abs to a lesser degree) all are a little more noticeably defined.

My pants all fit like they did a few months back. The biggest kicker -- wearing the perfect sized jeans, 34X30 for me right now, and my upper legs are tight inside each leg. The waist? Don't even feel it. Same with my shirts -- the upper chest is now what's stretching the fabric, NOT the mid-section. That's a personal victory for sure.

Overall, loving the ability to more tightly control what's going in my mouth, my exercise levels, and I only have Beachbody to thank for the ever-expanding toolbox of workouts, foods, and encouragement to make it all possible. From Steve Edwards to Tony Horton, Shaun T, and on and on, I've found great success working with the BB crew and tools.

So why not join me? Set aside 30 minutes everyday to workout lightly, and start by getting Shakeology, comes with two great workouts, and try the cleanse as I've described.

Once those three days are over, add a shake in place of lunch everyday for 30 days, do the 30 or 50 minute workout everyday, then pick up Power 90 if you're new/out of shape, or P90X if you're ready to move beyond basic running/biking to get to your next level of fitness. Be sure to read and follow the diet plan(s) as closely as you can, and know that your path to fitness is 20% working out, and 80% how you eat.

This is one reason I love Tony Horton, the trainer behind these amazing workout programs: His Holiness' ATTITUDE

"There was one," Horton says, "that I called the Impossible Push-Up." The Impossible Push-Up looked like this: Position each hand on a basketball. Position feet on a balance ball. Push up. "When I first invented it, I couldn't do a single one," but he kept at it until he could do one, then five, then 22. "Now," he says, spreading out his hands as if envisioning a title on a marquee, "I call it the Possible." (Source)

There's a formula for success if I've ever read one. Be consistent with what I wrote in these paragraphs, and you will feel better, get in better shape, and be well on your way.

Take it a day at a time, forget yesterday, tomorrow isn't here -- be present in today, eat right, workout, then take care of tomorrow... tomorrow. It's been over 4 years for me; sound impossible? Not if you take it day by day. Small successes add up to big ones. And be sure to bookmark my blog. Let's do this. Together.

First of all, it's not a true cleanse. It's a calorie-restricted and nutrient-dense diet plan. Traditional cleanses contain very few calories and nutrients. Compared to the much more popular Master Cleanse, it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Traditional cleansing diets are done to rid your system of toxins and bring it into homeostasis. They also contain a spiritual aspect. This process can take a long time, which is why you may have seen coworkers walking around the office in a zombie-like state for weeks on end—swilling a strange concoction of lemons and maple syrup.

The Shakeology cleanse is nothing like that. Depending on how you decide to do it, you'll be eating frequently and consuming between 800 and 1,200 calories per day, and it could be even more should you feel the need. The point of this cleanse is not calorie restriction, per se—it's nutrient efficiency. The aim is to get the most nutrients possible into the fewest number of calories. The goal is to put all of these calories to use as a part of your exercise program, to rid your body of undigested foods and toxins, and to bring your hydration levels into homeostasis. The result you're after is not weight loss—though it will likely occur—but for your body to be running more efficiently. This should make you feel lighter and more energetic, even though you're doing an exercise program.

How It WorksYour eating structure doesn't change. You still eat every few hours while you're awake. Each meal should have a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber. And while you're not eating as much food as you'd normally eat, your calorie-to-nutrient ratio is extremely high. This means that you shouldn't restrict the actual nutrients you're getting by too much, so activity can continue as normal.

We recommend you try to keep your shakes to just Shakeology. Adding fruits of any kind, or seeds (for fat and fiber), or the Shakeology Fiber supplement, can and should be done as you see fit.

Ditto for your one solid meal—a salad. As we all know from any salad bar, the definition of salad can be varied. The goal of the salad in the plan is to keep your calories coming from natural sources (no artificial ingredients should be added, including artificial salad dressing). Aside from that, you can add ingredients as necessary. Keep your meat intake to four ounces or less, but add veggies, seeds, nuts, fruits, and legumes in quantities to satiate you.

The goal of the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse is to optimize your performance. You want to eat enough to fuel your day AND your workout. The foods you're eating are so high in fiber and nutrients that it's virtually impossible to overeat. You'll be consuming so much fiber, along with enzymes and digestive aids, that your body's ability to flush excess foods quickly will be at its peak.

What to DrinkWater, of course, is recommended in quantity. This is vital to any cleanse, because one of your goals is to bring your hydration into homeostasis. When your electrolytes are out of balance—the main problem we have is salt—you often retain water outside of your cells. This situation, which we refer to as retaining water, is cured by drinking more water. As the excess salts are diffused, your body begins to hydrate your cells (using sodium as it should be used) and flush the water held outside the cells. So, oddly enough, you drink water to eliminate water retention.

Sodas, alcohols, juices, etc., should be eliminated entirely during a cleanse. Coffee and tea, which are diuretics, should be minimized at the very least and eliminated if possible. Again, performance is the key, so if you need a cup of Joe as a pick-me-up, go ahead. Just use only as needed, and don't use additives. Eliminating sugar and chemicals is vital. However, do not use energy drinks or soda for this purpose, including the ones with artificial sweeteners. Coffee drinkers may find that switching to black tea during a cleanse will give you the energy you're looking for with less upset. Coffee's acidic nature can heighten the effects in a negative way during your cleanse.

Why You Won't Lose WeightI should say why you might not lose weight, but I wanted to get your attention. Most people will lose some weight during a cleanse, but that is not the goal. Those with a lot of undigested gunk in their systems will lose weight as it's flushed out. Those of you who are properly hydrated and already eat well are less likely to lose. For those of you who need to lose weight, take heart: you are setting up your system to use nutrients more efficiently and improving your ability to lose weight through structured diet and exercise. So while you may not lose much on the cleanse, you'll be more prepared to lose weight later.

Another reason why we don't always lose weight on cleanses is due to a stress hormone called cortisol. Restricting calories is stressful to the body, and it reacts by releasing cortisol. Cortisol is performance-enhancing in the short term, but if you somehow keep your body stressed for long periods, it creates havoc in your system and can cause you to doggedly hang onto weight in a type of survival mode. We don't want this to occur, which is one reason the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse is short. It's important not to remain in a highly calorie-deficient state for long periods of time, especially when you are trying to exercise hard.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I'm surprised -- it's day three of the Shakeology Cleanse (scroll down to see source/how to do this), and I'm feeling fine. Good energy, enjoying the 30 minute free workout that came with the first bag of this amazing shake product (get yours), and very much feeling it in the ol' abs.

So some honesty is in order. I'm not a huge fan of the Ab workouts in P90X and even One on One with Tony Horton.

Put it plainly, they hurt my lower back, they're hard, and they add 20-25 minutes to workouts that are already about an hour long.

Excuses, excuses. But the final 7-8 minutes of Ab work in the little Shakeology 30 gem seems just right. Gets the mid-section burning, pushes my envelope till I have to squirm a bit -- you know, a little "ouch!" and turn to one side to relax the muscles when they're burning? -- and get a little sweat from mid-way to the end. Heck, even the main trainer on the program (she's also Shaun T's main example person in the Insanity DVD series) visibly gets a little sweaty in round 2 of 3.

So with good energy, and an eye towards more water intake today (had a minor headache last night/woke up with the same, I'm blaming H20 lack thereof) and following the plan through tomorrow morning, will see what we shall see.

Took the liberty of weighing myself last night and this morning. Came into the cleanse at 201, this start of Day 3 weigh-in?

More reports as the day proceeds and I start back on normal food tomorrow.

Tech tip for the day -- have you heard of Last.fm? Free online streaming of music, to your computer or cell phone. Input an artist or band, and it makes a continual stream of free music in a mix. Sure you can't get specific tracks -- it's free folks! -- but you WILL learn about new artists you've never heard before that sound a lot like your favorites. Sign up and start listening.

Today is the day you start getting into shape. Let me help...Ready to get in shape, with my help? I can be your coach, help you via email/online, and get you started on the right foot. First, sign up here to get me as your free coach. Next, click SHOP here to get your copy of Power 90 (beginners) or P90X (intermediate) or Insanity (advanced interval training). (NBA stars, singers like Cheryl Crow and Pink, and folks like you and I are doing it! Here's Tony Horton talking about P90X.) Bolster your food plan by tracking your calories with fitday.com (guys, 2,500 cals a day, gals 1,800), and consider drinking a Shakeology shake in place of lunch -- it's like going to the salad bar with five plates. If you're already a P90X user, take the next step and be a coach with my help. Keep pushing play, bring it, A+ P90X review!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Day Two of the cleanse has arrived... How do I put this. A shake for lunch and breakfast (with water), 2-3 servings of fruit, and tied on a spinach salad with pine nuts, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 4 oz. of grilled cod. Nice.

Effects thus far? Good energy, not overly hungry at all. Some extra bathroom breaks, nothing serious... until approx. 9 p.m. The cleanse began in earnest. You can guess the details.

Slept well, did another 30 minute workout from the Shakeology DVD pack you get free with your first bag of the shake, and sweated it up. Using 20 and 12 pound weights certainly helps max out the results. Starting off Day 2 strong, still feeling a little off sick-wise (Deb and Will have a touch of it as well) and lots to do today at ProQuest.

Dinner update: I needed that. That salad that is. Tons of baby spinach, a pair of small salmon burgers on top, with the same 2 tsp. EVOO and 1 tsp. vinegar on top with pine nuts. Added a pair of big red tomatoes, and feel pretty darn full. First time in many hours. Still have good energy, got through the day just fine, and rolling over the hump into Day 3 nicely.

Click here to get your own supply of the Shakeology shake, then prepare to lose weight and enjoy three days of "spring cleaning" for your body! Will take a low calorie, lower workload/workouts for three days, following the below, and judge the results. Nice.

Here’s a little inside information for the Straight Dope faithful. It’s a three day cleanse (I’m doing this week) that’s becoming a standard part of our diet guides. It came from Mike Karpenko (Beachbody coach who once worked for me in the office and still runs our test groups with me) as an evolution of a cleanse I’d done using Shakeology as a substitute for our current fasting formula. Mike spruced it up a bit, we turned it loose on our test groups, and voila!

I’ve just returned from a weekend in Moab for Romney’s birthday (and birthday challenge, report coming soon). Along with a fair amount of exercise we did a fair amount of reveling. I mean, it’s the off-season and pints are two bucks around town and what else are you going to do on a birthday weekend? Therefore, even though I spent four to six hours each day running around I feel like pig that’s been fattened for slaughter, making this a perfect time to flush my system and bring everything back into homeostasis.

This is a performance-oriented system designed to support hard training. It’s not the Master Cleanse. The goal is to promote flushing junk from your system and regulating hydration levels. It’s calorically restricted to be sure. But in its 1500 or so calories will be more nutrients than most people get by eating well over twice that amount. The key is caloric efficiency; getting the most nutrients possible out of the fewest number of calories.

It’s too fat restrictive for a lifestyle plan. I’m on a low cal cycle of the ABCDE diet so it’s the kick start to that. After three days I’ll roll this into a 1600 calorie a day plan with additional calories added for sports performance only—this means targeted calories consumed during and immediately after workouts don’t count in the daily total.

The plan consists of three Shakeology shakes* a day with a salad in the evening. If the shakes are plain (Shakeology and water only) I can add three pieces of fruit. The salad is unrestricted as far as veggies go, with 4 ounces of a protein source (if it’s meat or fish and slightly more if it’s a veggie source like legumes), and two tablespoons of an olive oil/vinegar dressing. For fatty acids, each salad will also contain a tablespoon of chia seeds (or flaxseed or hempseed). Plenty of water washes it all down. Coffee, tea, and herb teas are fine as long as they are sans additives, as all are performance enhancing. In three days I plan feel recovered from the weekend and ready to roll into my final prep phase for the Copper Canyons.

* Any meal replacement or protein shake could be substituted but I’d recommend adding at least a greens formulation to this to try and equate Shakeology’s 70 ingredients.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Stand Up Desks: Coming Soon to Your Workplace

Here's my stand up desk in action, complete with plans... Been nearly a year, love it, wouldn't go back to sitting down all day if you paid me. Here's the NY Times story/more professional looking do-hickies.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

This remarkable image sequence captures a series of massive calving events at Columbia Glacier near Valdez, Alaska. Composed of 436 frames taken between May and September of 2007, it shows the glacier rapidly retreating by about half a mile (1.6 kilometers), a volume loss of some 0.4 cubic miles (1.67 cubic kilometers) of ice or 400 billion gallons (1.5 trillion liters) of water.

The time-lapse was taken as part of the ongoing Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), an ambitious project to capture global warming-induced glacial retreat in the act. Beginning in December 2006, photographer James Balog and his colleagues set up 26 solar-powered cameras at glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, the Alps, and the Rocky Mountains. Each unit will take a photograph every daylight hour until fall 2009.

In 2008, Balog’s team began to return to each of the camera sites to collect images. In the end, they will have more than 300,000 images to analyze and stitch together to produce more dramatic videos like this one.

Wednesday means heavy lifting, P90X style. A pair of 30's for the first half, rocked the moves, maxed out at 12, went heavy. Only way to really gain muscle and lose fat.

ChaLean Extreme is also a great program for women who want to lift to gain lean muscle and lose weight. More here under SHOP/Fitness Programs.

Today is the day you start getting into shape. Let me help...Ready to get in shape, with my help? I can be your coach, help you via email/online, and get you started on the right foot. First, sign up here to get me as your free coach. Next, click SHOP here to get your copy of Power 90 (beginners) or P90X (intermediate) or Insanity (advanced interval training). (NBA stars, singers like Cheryl Crow and Pink, and folks like you and I are doing it! Here's Tony Horton talking about P90X.) Bolster your food plan by tracking your calories with fitday.com (guys, 2,500 cals a day, gals 1,800), and consider drinking a Shakeology shake in place of lunch -- it's like going to the salad bar with five plates. If you're already a P90X user, take the next step and be a coach with my help. Keep pushing play, bring it, A+ P90X review!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Social Media Reading List for Schools & Educators

This is a must-watch video by Hans Mundahl, Director of Experiental Learning and Technology Coordinator at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. Not only does Hans have a cool title (how awesome would it be if every school had a ‘director of experiential learning?’), he makes a mean video.

Check out Hans’ 3–minute clip below, where he tries to explain the value of social media to his school leadership team. Then check out the wiki page that resulted from his efforts.

Core blaster this, needed to focus on the back, scretch it and work it, after planting a ton of things around the yard, digging through rocks and clay, NC-style, with the elder Kinyon's visiting. A big motivator and help for sure!

Feel better, back is un-tweaked, glad to be back on the workout routine.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Listen to this episode of This American Life before you believe any of the stories coming from the Fat Cats. Will open your eyes to how these guys baked the cake to fail, then collected millions betting against themselves.

Friday, April 16, 2010

No Flash Support on iPad iPhone Apple

Click above to get the details on this on-going debate/debacle. Is Apple becoming the new Microsoft of the 80's? Too big/controlling for its own good? You decide. No Flash = a big reason not to buy an iPhone or iPad in my book. Android Flash player is nearly here -- can't wait.

Top graphic explanation: As Jon Stewart discussed on last night's Daily Show, Fox News recently placed the logo for the Nuclear Security Summit alongside the flags of several Muslim nations to insinuate that President Obama is telegraphing support to the Islamic world. But that's ridiculous. Why would Obama do something so blatant? It'd just ruin the surprise when he forces us into the Satanic atheist Muslim reeducation bathhouses.

Last week saw something very new to me -- a huge dip in my energy levels. Heck, I even had trouble pushing the ol' lawn mower over my insanely-lush lawn. Adding food, decreasing P90X a bit, and even cutting back on bike ride length has had zero effect.

Looks like 7-8 rounds of P90X, stacked together in an unbreakable (nice) chain can lead to... well, the need for a rest!

And I'm taking heed. Will rest this week, take some short bike rides to keep things moving, and focus on insanely great eating.

Next week will pick things up, nursing some energy back into my reserves.

Actually, it's nice to get some solid signals from my body. Been a straight line of workouts/intensity ramping for so long, I was worried that I was under-performing. Looks like I've reached a limit.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Adobe Employee: Go Screw Yourself, Apple

Adobe CS5 was set to allow every Flash developer to save their work to a native Apple iPad iPhone application, with a tidal wave of fresh revenue and innovation to hit these popular gadgets via the Apple Store in a few months time.

Adobe Platform Evangelist Lee Brimelow goes on the offensive for seven paragraphs, ripping into Apple’s recent change to its iPhone Developer Program License Agreement that only allows for applications to be written in Objective-C, C, C++ or Javascript and executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine. In fact, the post (original here) was so strong that Adobe asked Brimelow to delete a segment.

"This has nothing to do whatsoever with bringing the Flash player to Apple's devices. That is a separate discussion entirely. What they are saying is that they won't allow applications onto their marketplace solely because of what language was originally used to create them. This is a frightening move that has no rational defense other than wanting tyrannical control over developers and more importantly, wanting to use developers as pawns in their crusade against Adobe."

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Thursday stretchy goodness! A must for all serious workout folks. Lifting weights and biking/running big distances is all well and good. Flexibility is even more critical to your fitness puzzle. This workout fits the bill. Get yours in P90X.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Monday blast off with pull-ups, push-ups, and all the rest. Maxed it out at 40 minutes, saving energy for a monster ride over lunch on the trail. Maxing both cardio and lifting on a solid post-Easter Monday for the workout win.

Friday, April 02, 2010

Trade Show Events Social Media Marketing Apps for iPhone and Android

So your company sets up a booth stand at trade shows and special events, and you're part of the marketing or trade show team in your firm. You already have a corporate Twitter account, and perhaps a FaceBook page, blog, YouTube account, etc.

Just set up a fresh iPhone or Droid as your "corporate" smartphone, and link all of the apps below to your social media outlets. Then let the fun begin.

Which smartphone apps will help you target savvy smartphone-using attendees, dramatically increase interactivity in your booth via QR codes and social media like FaceBook and Twitter, and make it easy for attendees to find you, Tweet about your products and services, and even bookmark and view your landing pages, website, or videos using their phones?

Legal Disclaimer

The views expressed on my blog and other social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) are entirely my own, and do not represent those of my employer, family, friends, or anyone else currently alive. Or dead.